Belu's injection stretch blow molded 500ml mineral water bottles made of PLA

Starch-based production materials
Mark Fink is Business Development Manager at Plantic Technologies, an Australian company specializing in the production of thermoformed trays made from starch-based biomaterials. Fink feels that the industry has made considerable progress in key issues such as consumer and industry awareness and the economics of sustainable packaging.

“From a use point of view, the disadvantages of these new materials are the relatively high cost of small-scale production and the difficulty of bringing the consumer products manufacturers a broad interest in and understanding of new materials,” Fink said. “In most cases, Next, these new materials can overcome these two obstacles. When the consumer goods producers, processors, the government, and the public find the driving force for change (whether it is higher oil prices, supply shortages or environmental impacts), these new material supporters There will be plenty of opportunities to make packaging materials from renewable resources."

Fink's point of view appears to represent the views of most of the material suppliers interviewed in this article. But what are the views of those consumer product manufacturers who are using renewable packaging?

The Oppenheimer Group in Vancouver, Canada, is now trying to promote Earthcycle-certified biodegradable palm fiber prepackages for a variety of fresh produce. Cathie MacDonald of the Oppenheimer Group said: “Because palm fiber packaging is a sustainable resource, it is more stable and reliable than petroleum-based packaging in terms of cost and supply. It is incredible to use this kind of packaging on agricultural products. We believe that consumers will respond to the natural appearance of the package and the fact that it is environmentally friendly."

Reed Paget of the Belu Mineral Water Company in the UK said that his company is currently preparing to use the bottle after testing a 500ml bottle made of PLA. Regarding Belu's experience with NatureWorks PLA bottles, he concluded: “For all products, cost is always a factor to consider. With scale production, we estimate that the cost of these PLA bottles and labels will be at least comparable to those of petroleum-based water bottles. Almost. Consumers welcome packages that provide the products and convenience they need, without damaging the planet."

Wild Oats Markets, based in Boulder, District of Columbia, United States, said the company's Sonja Tuitele: “We replaced all of our petroleum-based plastic containers in all our stores with containers made of grain (our employees called it ' Grain containers') We used three sizes of biodegradable packages for refrigerated salads and side dishes, bulk oils, sliced ​​cheeses and produce. In our juice bar, we have recently introduced PLA drink cups."

Trays made from starch-based biomaterials can be used to package dry products such as electronic products or biscuits, candies, and the like

Biodegradability certification
From a processing perspective, packaging made from sustainable materials is more environmentally friendly than oil-based packaging. After all, these materials are biodegradable. This is a key selling point. The different characteristics of these materials can affect their degradation. Therefore, it is important for consumer product manufacturers and the public to understand these differences.

Some materials are naturally degradable, others are artificially degradable, they usually require additional heat to degrade, and some require the use of special additives to aid in degradation. From an environmental point of view, the use of these additives is a hot issue in the industry.

Malcolm Cohn of Innovia Films explained the potential impact of this issue. “The lack of understanding of sustainable materials is a potential drawback in our industry,” he explained. “Some of the degradable products are based on plastics and need to be added in order to start decomposing. This product is called 'oxy-biodegradable'. In the degradation schedule of commercial degradable products, degradation is not very effective, and there is currently no data on the time required for complete degradation of this material, which has not been certified by ASTM 6400 nor approved by the Biodegradable Products Institute. They are very different from degradable materials, which are usually derived from renewable materials (wood, corn, etc.) and eventually degrade to soil.”

In terms of packaging, Cohn believes that one of the biggest obstacles to using degradable materials in the industry is the lack of roadside collection and urban degradation facilities. “Urban degradation will complete the recycling of materials, such as NatureFlex made from wood pulp, and eventually will degrade into reusable materials,” he said.

A strong focus on the environment and understanding of market efficiency have promoted the application of sustainable materials. David Zutler from Biota USA explained how he and another company founder, Michael Zutler, led his company to become the first company in the bottled water or beverage industry to use sustainable packaging.

“When we started developing this kind of bottle, the equipment manufacturer suggested that we start with PET first. If we are interested in sustainable materials, then we move to NatureWorks PLA,” David Zutler said. “We said if there was a Earth-friendly materials, we hope to be able to develop it, we did do it. The cost was a problem at first, but we have high-quality mineral water products, we feel that the benefits of an all-natural container can be To offset these added costs, costs are no longer a problem because of the high oil prices. Due to our commitment to the earth-friendly position, our business has been continuously successful."

Zutler's point of view is a response from many industry insiders. Although there are still some obstacles in terms of cost, production, and public awareness, those who continue to work hard believe that they can do better. This industry will face greater demand, application and innovation.

Source: International Packaging Business